


To Need

by thecouchwitch



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Angst, Bad Ending, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9419687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecouchwitch/pseuds/thecouchwitch
Summary: What would have happened if Keith's fake Shiro vision hadn't walked out the door?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Why is everything I write for Voltron so depressing lately??? These guys are my OTP but I can't seem to make them be happy wtf

-

“Is that a hologram?” Shiro asks, somewhat shaken at the vision before him. Keith and himself are onscreen, but that's not himself; himself is in the viewing area with the Blade commander, or leader, or spokesman, or whoever this guy is.

 

“His suit has the ability to create a virtual mindscape reflecting its wearers greatest hopes and fears,” the Galra confirms matter-of-factly, “and at this moment, your friend desperately wants to see you.”

 

He looks at Shiro, his face hidden, but his tone of voice and the way he emphasises “You” makes Shiro shift uncomfortably, like he's being accused of something, but of what he has no idea. On the screen, Keith is still talking to the illusionary Shiro, clearly not able to see through the ploy from either exhaustion or the mindscrambling effects of the suit.

 

“What is it with you and that _thing_?” The fake Shiro spits the words out so harshly, in a way that makes the real deal wince. He'd never talk to Keith like that, and he wants to punch his false self just for raising his voice at him. Keith still makes no indication of seeing through the illusion and Shiro does his best not to be too offended by it.

 

“It's the only connection I have to my past.” Tired amethyst eyes turn down to the alien knife in his hands, before looking up again, fire in his eyes, strength returned to his voice, and Shiro is proud. “It's my chance to learn who I really am.”

 

“You know exactly who you are,” the illusion says firmly, and Shiro has to admit that the fake sounds a lot like himself at this point, but it's still not right, not the thing that needs to be said; he's taking Shiro's thoughts and perverting them into something cruel, manipulative. “You're a Paladin of Voltron. We're all the family you need.”

 

“Shiro.” Keith's voice wavers, but he's not giving in. _Don't give in Keith, don't listen to him, don't listen to me_. “You're like a brother to me. But I _have_ to do this.”

 

“No, you don't. So just give them the knife!”

 

“I can't do that!"

 

The false Shiro is getting angry. “Just give up the knife, Keith! You're only thinking of yourself, as usual!”

 

The real Shiro is angry now too, but the false one is the only Shiro that Keith can hear. This is fucked up, wrong. Shiro would never talk like that, wouldn't even think it. It hurts to even hear his own voice say it. Keith still believes the Shiro before him is real, that Shiro actually thinks of him as selfish, and the heartbreak on his friend’s tired and bruised face causes Shiro's heart to stop. Would Keith hate him later? Would he trust him still? Would he listen if Shiro explained what was really happening?

 

Keith finally answers after a pause. Broken, but still trying to stay strong, trying to hold himself together, like a cracked porcelain doll. “I've made my choice.”

 

The hardlight hologram eyes Keith with utter distaste. “Then you've chosen to be alone.”

 

The false Shiro turns and walks towards the door on the other side of the room. Keith is looking down at the knife, and the real Shiro is praying, hoping that this is the end of things, that the Blades will accept this turn of events and just give them what they came for, but then Keith shatters. He calls out Shiro's name, calls for him to wait, runs after him, and to the real Shiro's despair, the imposter stops. He turns back to Keith, an unreadable expression on his face, and Keith grabs his arm desperately, tightly, eyes shining with fear.

 

“Don't leave me,” the red paladin says, “I can't lose you again. I... I'm sorry for being selfish, I just need to know!”

 

“You don't need anything,” the false Shiro says. He places his hands on Keith's shoulders, eyes turning soft in a way that the true Shiro doesn't like; his tactics are changing. “I'm all you need, right?”

 

Keith gapes up at the false Shiro in confusion and begins to stutter a reply, but the false Shiro cups the face of the red paladin with one hand, stroking his cheek, wiping away the dried blood and tears with a gentle thumb. “You think I don't know how you feel about me?”

 

Alarm bells go off in the true Shiro's head. He looks accusingly at the Galra beside him. “What am I.... What's it doing to Keith?!”

 

“Testing him.” The answer is infuriating, heartless. On the screen, Keith looks like someone who's been caught in a lie.

 

“I-I don't, I don't know what you're talking about Shiro-”

 

“Of course you do.” The smile on the holograms face is just as fake as he is. It's playful, seductive, inviting, something Shiro himself can never remember wearing. “All those times when you think I didn't notice you staring at me? How you used to get jealous when I paid too much attention to my other friends? I saw the gay porn mags you had stashed in your shack too, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together.”

 

The real Shiro noticed no such thing, found nothing like that at the shack out in the desert. But the fear on Keith's face shows it's something he totally believes, something that he completely considers likely to happen. He _has_ been staring at Shiro, he _did_ get jealous, and he _is_ interested in men.

 

“You need to stop this,” Shiro demands of the Galra beside him.

 

The answer is predictably cold and uncaring: “He can decide when it stops.”

 

“You're messing with his mind! He's... He just called me his brother! The suit is making him remember things wrong!”

 

The mask turns to look at him. “A man's worst enemy is his own self. We don't need to mess with his mind. All of what you see is his own doing, and it is a kindness compared to what Zarkon's forces would do in our place.”

 

On the screen, Keith is weakening.

 

“I just... I need you, Shiro.”

 

“You have me,” the impostor answers gently, warmly. The two of them are closer than before, a robotic arm is encircled around Keith's slim waist far too intimately, holding the red paladin close against his chest. “You just need to give up the knife. Prove to me how much you love me.”

 

Keith's grip goes slack. The knife clatters loudly to the floor as the red paladin, weakened and tired as he is, throws his arms around the impostor and kisses him on the lips.

 

“I'm calling this off,” Shiro announces, turning to barge out the door. Two large guards stand on either side, and he half expects them to intervene, but they make no move as he passes them. He races down the hall and out into the area that contained Keith and the impostor. They're no longer kissing, but they're still embracing, with Keith's face buried in his copy's broad chest. They're kneeling on the floor; Keith's legs have finally given out. Shiro is swept away with panic.

 

“Keith!”

 

Keith and the impostor look up. Keith's purple eyes widen in shock, and the copy holding him in his arms suddenly flickers out of existence like a candle being blown out. Without any hardlight bodies supporting him, Keith falls onto his side and looks around in panic, not sure where he is or what's going on or if anything is real, and it's all Shiro can do to rush to his side. There's a million things he wants to say to Keith, wants to ask him, but Keith looks barely lucid and Shiro doesn't even know where to begin. He settles for pulling Keith to his feet.

 

“Are you okay, Keith?” There's a slight tremor in his voice. Keith shakes his hand off and takes a few steps back and it makes Shiro's stomach drop to the floor.

 

“Wh-what's happening? What's going on..?”

 

“None of it was real, Keith,” Shiro tries to explain, he's panicking, and Keith is panicking too, but they don't have time for this. He picks up the discarded knife and presses it back into its owner’s hands.

 

The Galra choose this moment to make their presence known. “Stop what you're doing!”

 

“We're leaving!” Shiro turns defiantly to face the aliens, putting himself between them and his friend. The Galra in charge and his guards stand in the doorway, posed for battle, their previous calm gone now that Shiro is interfering.

 

“Not until you return the blade,” the Galra commands. “It does not belong to you. You made a choice, and you failed to awaken it!”

 

“What does that mean?!” Keith yells and takes a step forward. His knee buckles, and Shiro reaches out to stop him from falling. Seemingly on instinct, Keith shoves him away. Shiro feels like he's going to shatter.

 

The Galra aren't answering any more questions. Again ordering him to give up the knife, one of the guards unsheathes the sword on his back and advances on the weakened red paladin. He's barely staying on his feet. Shiro activates his robotic hand and prepares to throw himself at the alien warrior, but just as their respective weapons collide for the first time, Keith calls for them to stop.

 

“Wait.” His voice, his body language, it's all a picture of defeat. He holds the blade out towards the Galra. “Just take the knife.”

 

Shiro pulls away. The Galra lowers their weapon. All eyes in the room are on the red paladin.

 

“I... I don't care anymore.” Keith shakes his head. “None of it... None of it matters. Just take it and let us go.”

 

The Galra hesitate, surprised by this turn of events, wondering if it's some kind of trick or feint, but Keith isn't playing around. He drops the knife at his feet and kicks it across the floor, where one of the Galra bends down to pick it up. He tries to take a step towards the door and almost falls again, making Shiro instantly dash over to hold him upright. Keith allows the contact, but refuses to meet his eye.

 

The Galra let them go. The two paladins silently make their way out of the base and back to the red lion with a suffocating cloud of failure hanging over their heads. Shiro helps Keith to his seat and radios a message to Allura. The negotiation fell through, he says, and Allura doesn't seem surprised at all. Only when they end the communication and Keith pilots them clear of the black holes does Shiro speak.

 

“Keith-”

 

“How much did you see?” Keith interrupts, not taking his eyes off the cockpit monitor.

 

Shiro hesitates for a moment, considers lying for a second, then hangs his head. “All of it... We were observing you on a screen in another room. Keith, I had no-”

 

Keith puts the lion on autopilot and stands. He brushes past Shiro and heads to the back of the lion, muttering something about Shiro needing to watch the controls while he checks some of the injuries he received from the trial. Any other time, Shiro would follow him, try to comfort him, try to get him to talk, but as it is, he can only see himself making things worse.

 

-


End file.
